DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 
Application for the Correction of 
the Coast Guard Record of: 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

FINAL DECISION 
BCMR Docket No. 2010-036 

SUMMARY OF THE RECORD 

 

The applicant asked the Board to correct his record to show that he signed a 6-year reen-
listment contract on November 13, 2009, to receive a selective reenlistment bonus (SRB) with a 
3.0 kicker calculated with 67 months of newly obligated service.   He alleged that on April 25, 
2008, he was erroneously counseled to sign a 33-month extension contract to obligate service to 
attend ET “A” School. In fact, he needed to obligate only 21 months of service because his “A” 
School  orders  required  obligated  service  through  December  11,  2011,  and  his  prior  enlistment 
ran  through  March  20,  2010.    He  also  alleged  that  on  January  20,  2009,  he  was  erroneously 
counseled to sign a 2-month extension contract to obligate sufficient service to attend “C” School 
even  though  his  erroneous  April  25,  2008,  extension  ran  through  December  12,  2012,  and  his 
“C” School orders required obligated service through July 1, 2012.  The applicant stated that he 
wanted  to  cancel  the  extension  contracts  when  he  received  transfer  orders  in  September  2009, 
and  reenlist  for  an  SRB,  but  did  not  do  so  because  his  SRB  would  have  been  significantly 
reduced by the 33 months of service obligated by the April 25, 2008, extension contract.  

 
The applicant’s “A” School orders show that he was required to have 3 years of obligated 
service  past  the  graduation  date  of  December  11,  2008,  to  accept  the  orders—i.e.,  service 
through  December  11,  2011.    The  applicant’s  “C”  School  orders  show  that  he  was  required  to 
have 3 years of obligated service past the graduation date of July 1, 2009—i.e., service through 
July  1,  2012.    However,  his  January  20,  2009,  2-month  extension  contract  shows  that  it  was 
executed to make the applicant eligible for an $8,000 Critical Skills Training Bonus (CSTB), not 
to obligate service for “C” School.  Under ALCOAST 316/08, to receive a CSTB, the applicant 
was required, upon advancement to ET3/E-4, to obligate at least 4 years of service—i.e., service 
through at least January 23, 2013, because he advanced to ET3 on January 23, 2009.  In Septem-
ber 2009, the applicant received transfer orders requiring him to have 3 years of obligated service 
from  his  reporting  date  of  December  14,  2009,  which  he  already  had.    There  is  no  contract  or 
Page 7 in his record indicating that he was promised an SRB upon receipt of these transfer orders 
in the fall of 2009. 
  

The Judge Advocate General of the Coast Guard recommended that the Board grant relief 
by allowing the applicant to reenlist for 6 years on November 13, 2009, to receive an SRB cal-
culated with  only  32 months  of newly obligated  service.  The applicant  agreed with  the JAG’s 
recommendation.  
 

 

 

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS  

To  accept  his  transfer  orders  to  ET  “A”  School  on  April  25,  2008,  the  applicant  was 
required to have 3 years of obligated service upon graduating on December 11, 2008.  Therefore, 
before accepting the orders, he needed to obligate service through December 10, 2011.  Because 
his prior enlistment would end on March 20, 2010, he could have signed just a 21-month exten-
sion contract on April 25, 2008, to obligate service through December 20, 2011.  Therefore, the 
advice he received to extend his enlistment for 33 months may have been erroneous.1   

 
To receive his CSTB under ALCOAST 316/08, however, the applicant needed at least 4 
years of obligated service upon his advancement to ET3/E-4 on January 23, 2009—i.e., service 
through at  least  January  23, 2013.   Because his  33-month extension ran through  December 20, 
2011, he needed the 2-month extension through February 20, 2013, to receive the CSTB.  If he 
had correctly signed a 21-month extension contract on April 25, 2008, obligating service through 
December 20, 2011, he would have been required to sign a 14-month extension contract on Jan-
uary  20,  2009,  instead  of  just  a  2-month  contract,  obligating  service  from  December  21,  2011 
through February 20, 2013, to receive the CSTB.   

 
The applicant’s record currently shows two extensions—one for 33 months and the other 
for  2  months—extending  his  prior  enlistment  for  a  total  of  35  months  from  March  21,  2010, 
through February 20, 2013.  However, even if he had been advised to extend his enlistment for 
just 21 months on April 25, 2008, his record would still show two extensions totaling 35 months 
and  obligating  him  through  February  20,  2013,  but  the  first  extension  would  be  for  21  months 
and the second would be for 14 months.  Whether the 35 months from March 21, 2010, through 
February  20,  2013,  are  covered  by  extensions  of  33  and  2  months  or  21  and  14  months,  the 
applicant still had to have the 35 months more months of obligated service to receive the CSTB. 

 
Because his “C” School orders required obligated service only through July 1, 2012, and 
he already had obligated service through February 20, 2013, when he began “C” School, he did 
not need to obligate any additional service to attend “C” School.  Likewise, when the applicant 
received orders in September 2009 to report to a new unit on December 14, 2009, which required 
3  years  of  obligated  service,  he  did  not  need  to  obligate  any  additional  service  because  he  had 
already obligated service through February 20, 2013.  Therefore, he was not authorized to sign 
any  contract  for  an  SRB  in  the  fall  of  2009  because  he  was  not  within  3  months  of  his  end  of 
enlistment or his 6th or 10th active duty anniversary and he did not need to sign any contract to 
accept his transfer orders.  See Personnel Manual, Articles 12.B.7., 3.C.5.9., and 1.G.15.a. 

 
Although the applicant alleged that he wanted to reenlist for an SRB in the fall of 2009, 
he was not authorized to reenlist for an SRB under the Personnel Manual because he had enough 
obligated service in his record to accept his transfer orders.  Nor is there any written promise of 
an SRB on any contract or Page 7 in his record.  Accordingly, the applicant’s request should be 
denied. 
 
                                                 
1  However,  the  Board  notes  that  it  is  also  possible  that  the  33-month  extension  was  signed  with  the  intention  of 
qualifying the applicant  for a CSTB by giving him  four  years of obligated service past  his  “A” School graduation 
date, pursuant to ALCOAST 316/08, and that because he did not advance to ET3 until 2 months after his graduation, 
the 2-month extension was necessary to entitle him to the CSTB. 

 

 

The  application  of  ET3  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,  USCG,  for  correction  of  his 

ORDER 

military record is denied.   

   
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 
 Thomas H. Van Horn 

 

 

 
 
 Darren S. Wall 

 

   
 George A. Weller 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 
 
 
 
August 12, 2010 
Date